DeepSeek V4 vs Gemini 4 Carbon
DeepSeek · China | Google · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick DeepSeek V4 for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost or open mit-licensed weights you can self-host. Pick Gemini 4 Carbon for ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60) or google-reported 88.2% on sec-bench pro and 54.8% on exploitgym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation. Choose DeepSeek V4 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Gemini 4 Carbon if you want a managed API.
DeepSeek V4 (DeepSeek, China) and Gemini 4 Carbon (Google, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. DeepSeek V4 is china's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. Gemini 4 Carbon is google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. They diverge most on price and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Price: DeepSeek V4 is about 3× cheaper on input ($0.66/$1.98 per 1M tokens vs $2/$10 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
- ▸Recency: Gemini 4 Carbon is the newer model by about 6 months (released October 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | DeepSeek V4 | Gemini 4 Carbon |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek (China) | Google (US) |
| Released | April 24, 2026 | October 28, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M (~1,500 pages) | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.66/$1.98 per 1M tokens | $2/$10 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | Yes — self-hostable | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, code | text, image, audio, video, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | 80.6% | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost
DeepSeek V4
At $0.66/$1.98 per 1M tokens it undercuts Gemini 4 Carbon ($2/$10 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host
DeepSeek V4
Open weights make this possible at all — Gemini 4 Carbon is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
No long-context surcharge
DeepSeek V4
Gemini 4 Carbon is comparatively weak here — google has not published context or modality specs - the 1M window and modalities shown come from Artificial Analysis and Vals
Ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60)
Gemini 4 Carbon
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet — and it is the newer of the two.
Google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation
Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon lists google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation among its strengths; DeepSeek V4 does not.
Google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching
Gemini 4 Carbon
Gemini 4 Carbon lists google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching among its strengths; DeepSeek V4 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
DeepSeek V4
At $0.66/$1.98 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ DeepSeek V4
At $0.66/$1.98 per 1M tokens it undercuts Gemini 4 Carbon, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ DeepSeek V4
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Gemini 4 Carbon is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost
→ DeepSeek V4
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60)
→ Gemini 4 Carbon
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Gemini 4 Carbon or DeepSeek V4
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
DeepSeek V4: where it fits
China's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. Released April 24, 2026 by DeepSeek, it is built for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost, open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host, no long-context surcharge, and highest LiveCodeBench result.
Its trade-offs are real: this generic 'V4' entry mirrors DeepSeek V4-Pro's specs - see DeepSeek V4-Pro and DeepSeek V4-Flash for DeepSeek's actual named product tiers, trails the very best on hardest agentic coding, and text/code focused, less multimodal. At $0.66 in / $1.98 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Gemini 4 Carbon: where it fits
Google's October 28, 2026 limited release for cyber defenders - top of the Artificial Analysis index at launch, priced at $2/$10 introductory, with no public API date yet. Released October 28, 2026 by Google, it is built for ranked first on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0 with 59 at launch (Artificial Analysis now shows 60), google-reported 88.2% on SEC-bench Pro and 54.8% on ExploitGym for vulnerability discovery and exploit validation, google-reported 71.0% on CWE-bench for patching, and introductory $2/$10 per million tokens, matching Gemini 4 Argon, with cached input 95% off.
Its trade-offs: limited release: rolling out to a subset of cyber defenders, then trusted partners via the Fairwind Program, with no date for developers or consumers, no public API model listing yet, so most users cannot call it today, introductory pricing rises to $4/$20 afterward, and Google has not said when that happens, and google has not published context or modality specs - the 1M window and modalities shown come from Artificial Analysis and Vals. At $2 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. DeepSeek V4 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Gemini 4 Carbon gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both DeepSeek V4 and Gemini 4 Carbon without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 4 Carbon better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Gemini 4 Carbon, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, DeepSeek V4 leans toward near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost while Gemini 4 Carbon leans toward ranked first on the artificial analysis intelligence index v5.0 with 59 at launch (artificial analysis now shows 60), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
DeepSeek V4 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Gemini 4 Carbon is API-metered at $2/$10 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both DeepSeek V4 and Gemini 4 Carbon together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you DeepSeek V4, Gemini 4 Carbon and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, DeepSeek V4 or Gemini 4 Carbon?
Gemini 4 Carbon — released October 28, 2026, about 6 months after DeepSeek V4.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.